To remove our en-suite?

[Whatelsecouldibecalled]

We’ve just moved to a new house. Got a bit of money to it up how we like. It’s got an en-suite in the master bedroom that I think takes up a lot of room. I’m not overly fussed about en-suites. I don’t see why builders are so obsessed with cramming one in. Our old one fitted the room ok so we left it. This one is built almost like a cupboard into the room. We would gain a fair amount of room if we took it out. It’s not that functional and we don’t like the suite or decor in it. Would it be a problem though if we ever came to sell? What type of trades people would we need to sort it out if we wanted it removed. Have attached picture of outside to give a rough idea of what it looks like??

I was at first mystified by the en-suite hate on here. I also found odd the comments about the en-suite being "in" the bedroom and making it smaller. No, I thought and sometimes wrote, it's a separate room, that happens to be reachable by not going via a corridor, and there's no reason why the bathroom or bedroom involved should be any smaller or less pleasant than ones that are separated by a corridor.

What I was forgetting, as someone who grew up in a younger country with newer housing, and who has always owned new-builds here, is that much housing here was built when having an inside toilet was a startling innovation, so many people's experience of an en-suite is a manky space-stealing conversion, not something that was designed into the house from the start. (I'm sure non-manky conversions also exist!)

To the en-suite haters, I would just like to point out that NAEALT (not all en-suites are like that.)

Depends how big the house is.
If it’s a 3 /4 bedroom you’d loose money as you’d just have to share 1 bathroom and maybe 1 downstairs toilet.
It would put me off .
But then ours doesn’t take up room space as it’s off to the side

If you’ve got a downstairs loo as well I don’t see the need for an ensuite in a 3 bed.

We’ve two kids and regularly have another family of four staying over and we all survived with one bathroom and a downstairs loo. If you’ve got guests chances are you’re not rushing off in the morning and fighting to get in.

This may change when they’re both teenagers but that’s far in the future and we’ll have probably moved by then!

I dream of a walk in wardrobe though, where I don’t have to rummage to find things.

Hate the pokey sink and the tiny shower. If there is room I'd refurb with bigger sink and shower. If not I'd either take shower out and just have toilet and bigger sink or get rid of en suite entirely.

If you get rid would you have to replace window with bigger one as wouldn't the current one look silly-sized in a bedroom?

What are the ensuite room dimensions? Maybe it is bigger than it looks on photo. Posting diagram on property board might get some ideas as to how to reconfigure it and significantly improve it.

If you’re planning on staying a while, have the house the way you want it. Won’t cost much to reinstate if you decide to sell, the plumbing will still be there.

To the en-suite haters, I would just like to point out that NAEALT (not all en-suites are like that.)

That's true. One of the houses we looked at had a master en-suite and it was lovely. Nicely designed, didn't eat into the bedroom space, had an external window and was beautifully tiled and laid out. I was quite happy with it - in fact, it became a bit of a selling feature. Sadly the vendors were twats so we didn't go ahead!

When you have kids it’s really nice to have a shower somewhere that’s not full of plastic ducks and watering cans.

And when you have teens it’s nice to have a bathroom that isn’t permanently occupied by someone messing with their hair.

We have 4 kids, 3 bathrooms and a downstairs loo. It really wasn’t too many. Not sure about an actual en suite though; we have a Jack and Jill and two separate bathrooms. Our no poo rule applies to the downstairs loo.

I would rather have a house with 1 nice family bathroom (bath with a nice shower ) and maybe a seperate toilet downstairs. Many ensuites limit space in the bedroom. A few ensuites are nice and don`t steal from the bedroom space.

In a 3 bed house I don`t see the need.

If you replace it with one of those all singing and dancing built in cupboards that would sell a house to me more than a pokey ensuite.

Why not keep the structure as in the walls and door, take out the bathroom fittings, tiles etc, plaster it and fit with shelves/ hanging space and create a walk in wardrobe. That would be a selling asset and meet your need for more storage/ wardrobe.

the longer this thread continues, the more poncy and up itself the very word "en suite" sounds.

To the en-suite haters, I would just like to point out that NAEALT (not all en-suites are like that.)

Oh, I agree. But the OP's ensuite isn't like that.

My current fantasy house has a divine dressing room and ensuite arrangement:

www.primelocation.com/for-sale/details/50630835?search_identifier=b561dd73009f94039531b0f000b0533f#0QDRCKT7J2ExRCe2.97

My parents bedroom is about the size of three normal bedrooms, and is just begging for a big copper bathtub in front of the window looking up the Lake District.

But the type of en suite OP posts? Nah, I'd rather have a dressing room or laundry room.

If you replace it with one of those all singing and dancing built in cupboards that would sell a house to me more than a pokey ensuite.

This!! I'd take a really well laid out built in (or walk in) wardrobe over a poky en-suite. We discounted a huge number of houses where the master bedroom had a en-suite but not enough room for wardrobes.

One particularly memorable example was where the vendor had done their own renovations (inherited property which they developed to sell). They'd moved the bedroom door in order to be able to accommodate an en-suite in the corner of the room. Unfortunately they'd not thought it through, because the result was that nothing larger than a standard double bed would fit, and even then the door would hit the bed - so you'd be able to open it halfway, then walk in and have to close it fully before you could get round the bed. Bonkers!

We also saw a number of new builds where they had en-suites but bedrooms were so small there was barely enough room to get bedside cabinets in, let alone a chest of drawers or wardrobe.

Do all the "shitting in the bedroom/sitting room /kitchen" people aspire to a nice earth closet at the bottom of the garden?

Difficult decision. I think it all depends on size of house in general. A four or five bedroom house without an en-suite is a no. A two bedroom house, one bathroom is fine and build a decent wardrobe in that space. I don't like en suite that is so small you can wee, clean your teeth and shower all at the same time.

We briefly rented a house which had a tiny en-suite, but our bed could not fit in the master bedroom. It could just fit in the second bedroom but no space for any bedside table or any other furniture. We had to poke our bums into the recessed window space in order to get dressed.

There was a whole estate of similar houses. I assume king size beds hadn't been common when they designed the estate.

thecatsthecats

Nah, I'd rather have a dressing room or laundry room.

That's what I was thinking of - to me it's baffling that someone would rather have an en suite - no matter if it's a glorified closet - than a dedicated laundry room. I wouldn't enjoy having a washing machine in the kitchen.

I wouldn't mind an en suite/dressing room solution myself, but I will never be able to live in anything but poky flats so this will never happen.

Skimmed the thread and read OP’s updates but not RTFT so apologies if this has been suggested, but is there any particular urgency, OP? Could you just put a chair in front of the door and have a trial month where you don’t use it at all? If you miss it then you’ll have your answer.

Just make sure you run the shower a few minutes on hot if you do then use it in the future to flush it through.

When I see poky ensuites lined up against the same wall as the main bathroom, I just think how convenient it would be to have the ensuite as a laundry room located off the bathroom.

All dirties could go directly in there, all the plumbing in place for washing and drying. Dry clothes could be folded up for people to return to their rooms. Magic.

I think perhaps a PP was right saying people who really value the ensuite might well be in the market for houses that already have big bedrooms and utility rooms as standard so having the ensuite is not an "either/or" situation.

Having said that I am genuinely shocked at how many people say they would not want one

Having said that I am genuinely shocked at how many people say they would not want one shock

And people deny that MN is middle class

Assuming you have a suitable number of bathrooms for the people in your house, why is it so unspeakable to have to take a couple of steps down a hallway to reach a toilet? Why must it be so close to your bed?

I haven’t read the whole thread, but we recently sold our 4 double bed house with two separate bathrooms, upstairs. One of the main post viewing comments/ complaints was that it didn’t have an en-suite.
We preferred two separate bathrooms, the stinky males used one and I had the other as a personal sanctuary.

Is the second biggest room next to the master? Is it a similar size once you discount the ensuite? If so I would have the room with the ensuite as the guest bedroom and the second bedroom as the master.

As a guest I'd appreciate an ensuite, but wouldn't want one in my own bedroom. I don't like the Premier Inn vibe of most bedrooms with ensuites shoe horned in to them.

Definitely keep it. It's not bad at all, actually. Maybe update the tiles to your taste, and add a bigger sink if you prefer? It will affect the value, I suspect, if you remove it.

Two showers is essential in our house and there's only three of us. Great for guests and useful in the mornings when everyone is trying to get ready for school/work at the same time.

I'd spend the money doing it up - get someone round to have a look - you might be able to do something with the layout to get a better sized shower enclosure in.